


Dès Vu

by homoamphibians



Series: The Many Timelines of Ro [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universes, Apocalypse, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Child Narrator, Dimension Travel, Dimensioskimming, F/F, Gen, Ghost Ben Hargreeves, Good Sibling Vanya Hargreeves, Lesbian Vanya Hargreeves, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Child, Pre-Apocalypse, Pre-Canon, Sequel, Timeline Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:41:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homoamphibians/pseuds/homoamphibians
Summary: Rowan Hargreeves had always felt off. She would meet people for the first time, but already know intimate details about them. She would see things that weren't there. Her father trained her and after a while of experimenting, she figured out she could travel dimensions.She met herself, again and again and again. Each version of herself was different, but all were missing something. No version of herself was truly happy.She set out to be that version, the one who would have her shit together. But that was a bit difficult when the apocalypse came into play.
Series: The Many Timelines of Ro [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1866943
Comments: 14
Kudos: 16





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UnicornInATophat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornInATophat/gifts), [Trinaq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trinaq/gifts).



> So basically this fic is split into two parts, her past which will be in italics and her not past which won't be in italics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> italics is past, non-italics is present

_The sun shone brightly in the sky as the little girl smiled._

_It was going to be a beautiful day, she could already tell._

_The birds danced around the glass near her._

_She waved to them._

_They did not wave back, which was unfortunate but to be expected._

_After all, Miss had said that birds can't communicate._

_Miss had also said that things were going to change soon and that the apocalypse was coming, which she had said she didn't say when the girl had asked her to repeat herself._

_Adults often did that._

_It was weird, they were weird._

_She wasn't the weird one._

_Everyone said that she was the weird one, but it wasn't her fault that they gave her so much information about themselves without even trying._

_They practically threw information and sentences they said they didn't say at her, so it wasn't her fault._

_She wasn't a trouble child._

_No matter what everyone thought._

_"November," Miss snapped her fingers, "Come."_

_She glanced over at Miss, seeing a weird old man with a monocle standing there._

_Sir Reginald Hargreeves._

_Billionaire._

_Father to seven children._

_Umbrella?_

_Something about umbrellas._

_Umbrella academy?_

_An academy was like some sort of school right?_

_Like a fancy school?_

_Huh._

_There was something else about umbrellas._

_Umbrella company?_

_Maybe._

_Interesting._

_He seemed really familiar, more familiar than most random people she knew weird facts about after seeing._

_November skipped over there, stopping when she got right next to Miss, "You have seven children? That's a lot!"_

_"I apologize, she says the weirdest things sometimes," Miss spoke up, glaring at her._

_Reginald Hargreeves raised a hand, "No apology necessary. She is gifted. Tell me child, what else do you know about me?"_

_"Um..." she looked at Miss for permission._

_No one really liked her saying things so she wasn't supposed to really say things._

_But Reginald Hargreeves was asking._

_Miss nodded encouringingly, or at least November assumed it was encouringly, she had never received a nod like that after all._

_But other kids had, and it kinda looked like that._

_Hopefully._

_"Your name is Regi...Regi..nald. Reginald Hargreeves. You are a billi...naire. You have an umbrella shop I think and there's something about an umbrella school. An umbrella academia? I don't know," she shrugged._

_Reginald Hargreeves glanced at her, his eyes piercing into her before he turned to Miss, "How much?"_

_"Well the adoption process is a much longer process than just paying for the child. It takes months to complete the paperwork," Miss explained, her eyes widening._

_Widening eyes was surprise._

_November remembered that._

_She had learned that._

_Wide eyes was surprise, narrow eyes was anger._

_Normal eyes was normal, no one had told her what normal meant though but surprise scared off adopters and anger was the emotion Miss got when the adopters left._

_Was Miss going to be scared off?_

_Who would be angry?_

_She could step up and do it if it was really necessary._

_Reginald Hargreeves opened up a small book, pulling out a pen as he did so, "How much for the child? I can compensate you in order to ignore the process. Would two-hundred-thousand be satisfactory?"_

_"You want to ignore all of the paperwork and just take her?" Miss asked, her eyes still wide._

_Maybe Reginald Hargreeves would be the one to get angry._

_He did seem kind of done with everything._

_Was that angry?_

_His eyes didn't narrow._

_His expression didn't match any of the flashcards she had gotten._

_Hmm._

_He stared at Miss, "Five-hundred-thousand for the child then?"_

_"I can do that. We'll just shred all those pesky legal documents and you can absolutely have her," Miss smiled._

_Happy._

_Happy that November was going away?_

_Made sense._

_She was, apparently, the trouble child._

_Reginald Hargreeves handed Miss a slip of paper and offered a hand to November, "Come."_

_"Okay!" She took it._

_They left the building, she waved at the birds as they passed on by._

_Reginald Hargreeves spoke to her as they walked, "There are a few matters we need to address before adding you to the Academy. First of all, your name with Number Eight. You will respond to Number Eight, and only Number Eight. I do not want to hear the silly month name again. Is that understood, Number Eight?"_

_"Okay!" She shrugged._

_She didn't really mind, people addressed her by a lot of names._

_November, girl, useless, freak, Rowan which only ever happened in dreams, October, fall, weirdo, the list went on and on._

_She could be called Number Eight._

_Numbers were cool, those flashcards made way more sense than her expression flashcards._

_He nodded, "Good. You will refer to me as Father, or Sir Hargreeves. No deviation from those two names are allowed, is that understood?"_

_"Yep!" She smiled._

_It was like calling Miss, Miss. She had another name that grown ups used but everyone else called her Miss._

_Sir Hargreeves must be his grownup name and Father was a name like Miss._

_She could deal with that._

_He led her down the street and towards a mansion._

_The door swung open before they reached the door, a blonde woman with a smile opening it._

_Grace._

_Mom._

_Something about cookies._

_Wires._

_Something about electronics._

_"Assemble the academy, tell them to hold their tongues," Father ordered._

_The woman nodded, "Yes, I will fetch the children and pass along your message, sir."_

_She disappeared up the stairs._

_Father guided her into the mansion.._

_Everything was nice, really pretty, and fancy._

_She had been here before._

_A lot._

_Except she hadn't._

_Besides her dreams of course._

_"What do you know about the woman you just met?" Father asked as they waited._

_She shrugged, "Her name is Grace, she's my mom. She bakes cookies and there's something about wires and electronics revolving around her."_

_"Very good," he praised, "Close your eyes."_

_She did as he said._

_She could hear the sound of footsteps, a lot of them._

_This must be the academy, like he said._

_"One by one, you all will stand in front of Number Eight wordlessly. We shall start in order. Begin," he called out._

_She was Number Eight, he was talking about her._

_That was nice._

_More sounds of footsteps, people moving around._

_"Number Eight, open your eyes and tell me what you know about this person," he ordered._

_She opened her eyes, seeing a blond boy in front of her._

_She tilted her head up to meet his eyes._

_Luther Hargreeves._

_Number One, the leader._

_Strong._

_Moon._

_Hairy._

_There was something about hurt, but she didn't really understand why that brain popped into her brain._

_She glanced back at Father, "This is Luther Hargreeves! He's Number One, the leader. He's strong, hairy, and there's something about the moon. Also, something about hurt? I don't know."_

_Luther's eyes widened for a moment before returning to the normal position._

_Surprise followed by something else._

_She didn't know what._

_"Good. You will address all of the academy by their number, not their chosen name. Is that understood?" He waited for a nod before calling out, "We will continue this same exact process. Next!"_

_Luther was replaced by a slightly shorter boy._

_One who looked kinda like she did._

_His skin was similar to hers, hers was a bit darker though._

_She looked up at him, ignoring the skin for now._

_Diego._

_Number Two._

_Vigilante._

_Knives._

_Mom._

_Good at breathing._

_She turned to Father again, "This is Diego, Number Two. He's a vig..vig..vigil..ant. Vigilant. He likes knives and is close to Mom. He's...good at breathing?"_

_"Interesting. Next time say the number before their chosen name but so far your answers have been satisfactory. Next!" He called out again._

_A girl._

_One with really cool hair._

_They glanced at each other._

_Allison Chestnut._

_No...Hargreeves._

_It was confusing._

_Number Three._

_There was something about her speaking and ordering people._

_Manipulation._

_Daughter._

_Famous._

_Hurt._

_A lot of hurt here._

_She tore her glance away, "Number Three. Allison. She can order people? There's something about speech. She is a mani..pulat..or. Manipulator. There's something about a daughter and being famous."_

_Again the eyes made the surprised face before going back to normal._

_All of their emotions were so quick._

_She didn't understand how anyone could make expressions so quickly._

_It was crazy._

_"Good," Father nodded._

_The next child slid into place, grinning at her._

_Klaus._

_Number Four._

_Death._

_Denny's._

_Crying._

_Drugs._

_War._

_Mausoleum._

_Ghosts._

_She didn't even have to spend time looking at him, she just spoke almost instantly, "Number Four. Klaus. There's something about death, and Denny's and cryings. There's also something about drugs and war. Also ghosts. There's a lot about ghosts."_

_"Interesting," Father was writing in a red book now, not even looking up._

_The next person walked into place, completely expressionless._

_She stared at him for a moment._

_He stared back, a small smirk sliding on his face._

_Five._

_Just Five._

_Death._

_Jumps._

_Temporal anomalies._

_Assassination._

_Friend._

_Oh that was nice._

_She smiled slightly as she reported what came to her head, "Five. That's his chosen name and his number. There's something about death and assassination. There's something about jumps and that's tied with temp...oral. Temporal ano..,ano...anonomalies. Yeah. Also, we're friends!"_

_"Friendships are a distraction, Number Eight. Remember that. You may continue," Father nodded._

_His eyes had narrowed._

_He was upset._

_Five moved out of the way, still staring at her as he left._

_The next one was a bit smaller than her._

_They locked eyes._

_Ben._

_A wave of something hit her._

_Death._

_It hurt._

_Funeral._

_This really hurt._

_Alone._

_Every word coming to mind just hurt as she thought it._

_Horror._

_She tore her eyes away, shaking her head, "I can't."_

_"Why are you hesitating? " Father spoke quietly._

_She shook her head, "It hurts."_

_"Pain is sometimes necessary in order to complete the objective. You cannot simply give up every time you are in pain. Do not be weak, Number Eight. Tell me what you know about him," Father ordered, his eyes narrowed._

_Her voice was hushed, "Ben. His name is Ben. Death. Funeral. Alone. Horror."_

_"Next," was all Father said._

_She didn't look at the boy as he left, instead focusing on the girl that took his spot._

_She was really pretty._

_Like really pretty._

_Like the prettiest girl, Number Eight had ever seen._

_Vanya._

_Number Seven._

_Violin._

_Sound._

_Apocalypse._

_Guilt._

_Hmm._

_Those two last things sounded bad, like they might get Vanya in trouble._

_She wouldn't mention it then._

_She smiled at the girl, a little bit ,"Number Seven. Vanya. She plays the violin and there's something about sound with her. That's all."_

_"This has been satisfactory. Grace will show you to your room and explain the schedule to you. The rest of you, get back to training," with that Father strode out of the room._

_Mom offered a hand, "Come on, Number Eight. Let's go to your room, and then after we finish up there, you can have a few cookies. Does that sound nice?"_

_"Yep!" She took the hand and let herself be taken upstairs._

_She would figure out what the expressions of the faces of the children meant later._

_That seemed like a lot of work and she was really tired._

_A nap would be a nice part of the beautiful day._

_And maybe it would make her not feel bad._

_That would be nice._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the sequel to my fic Sarang. If you haven't read it, you might be confused, but you don't have to read it to read this one because it is in a different universe technically.
> 
> also, I love writing child Rowan so much tbh.


	2. chapter 1

_It took her less than a week to realize that being adopted wasn't always a good thing._

_Miss and the children, the ones who were allowed to talk to her that is, always said that being adopted was the best thing to happen to a kid._

_But everything hurt._

_Her body just hurt all over and no one except Mom and Father ever talked to her and Father always got upset with her._

_She wasn't smart enough, quick enough._

_She didn't know anything about her ability, which she didn't even know her brain giving her information was an ability until she had been adopted by Father._

_He got angry a lot._

_And she didn't usually catch it until it was too late._

_Every night, after having a lot of wires hooked to her, she cried herself to sleep._

_Nothing happened._

_No one even told her to shut up and stop seeking attention._

_That happened with Miss at least._

_No one cared in any way._

_There were so many people here, but it didn't matter because they all treated her weird._

_She had been told by Father to talk about them and ever since then, they had avoided her._

_She was a freak again._

_Father had praised her for doing it and she was doing something right._

_Then she had done something wrong and now no one talked to her._

_And she couldn't even figure out why they were upset because she didn't have her flashcards._

_So living in the house was actually worse than not being adopted and she had learned._

_Not all situations had a happy ending and sometimes the villain saved the princess instead of the hero._

_Which made her feel bad._

_She wasn't sure in what kinda way but it made her feel bad._

_She sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her feet as she looked around for something to do._

_Father had said that training for her for the day was over and so she could go to her room since she would not be getting dinner today._

_And her room was empty, there wasn't even a coloring book in it._

_Or flashcards._

_So she sat there, doing nothing because there was nothing to do._

_A flash of blue light and a person erupted into her room._

_The one she recognized as Five._

_Her friend._

_Except not because friends were not good._

_She had thought friends were good, but Father had said she couldn't have friends so here they were._

_"I brought food. You can have it under the condition that you tell no one that this happened, understood?" Five raised an eyebrow._

_She didn't really realize that kids could do that._

_The whole raise one eyebrow thing._

_She couldn't do that._

_Huh._

_She nodded, "Okay. I'm good at keeping secrets."_

_"Are you? I seem to recall you giving a full report on all of us. That wasn't very secretive of you," Five's eyebrow still was raised._

_She found herself unable to tear her eyes away from it, it fascinated her, "Father asked."_

_"Rule number one of living here, the old man isn't in charge. Listen to him when necessary but don't be afraid to lie to him, or withhold information," Five crossed his arms._

_She nodded, "Okay. I don't know what withhold means."_

_"Rule number two, educate yourself. You need to grow up quick and being able to clearly define what you want to say will make people more likely to listen to you. Withhold means to keep something away from someone," Five explained._

_She nodded again, "So not saying some things?"_

_"Yes," he responded simply._

_She offered a small smile, "I've done that!"_

_"Good. Continue doing that, try to withhold more information next time. Especially dumb things like friends," he scoffed._

_She scrunched up her face in confusion, "Why are friends dumb?"_

_"They're simply distractions from a goal that could otherwise be achieved," he rolled his eyes._

_She stared at him for a moment, "Don't get distracted then?"_

_"Are you suggesting a friendship?" He raised his eyebrow again._

_She simply nodded._

_That sounded nice._

_And if she withhold the friendship from Father than it didn't matter if it was allowed._

_"What purpose would a friendship serve me? Why would I engage in one?" He demanded, his eyes narrowing._

_Anger._

_She shrugged, "Friends are people you know will be there and they can make you feel better and help you out and bring you food when you don't get dinner."_

_A pause._

_His facial expression changed, she didn't understand._

_"So you're proposing an alliance?" He questioned._

_She nodded even though she wasn't exactly sure what that meant._

_"I will consider that, Eight. You will have to catch up to me in terms of skill but as long as you work harder in training, you'll be decent enough in terms of combat. For us to be allies, friends as you call it, you need to be stronger. Understood?" He asked._

_Number Eight nodded, "Okay."_

_"Now eat quickly so I can get this dish back to the kitchen. Three agreed to cover for me for a half hour since she owes me, but we should not waste time," he ordered._

_And so she ate._

_Happy._

_And with a friend, or at least a soon to be friend._

_That was really nice._

//

Rowan had experienced a lot of death in her life.

People's loved ones dying, criminals dying, a wide variety of death. 

People always cried after their loved ones died.

Having to go with Allison, the one who was the best at smoothing things over, and tell someone their family was dead was awful because the people would just be sobbing. 

That hurt her heart every single time it happened. 

But somehow, when death struck one of them it hadn't hurt. 

She didn't cry. 

She didn't sob until she couldn't breathe. 

She didn't punch a hole through the wall like Luther had done. 

She didn't lose her ability to speak and stay in Mom's room for days like Diego had done. 

She didn't have bad dreams and rumor them away like Allison had done. 

She didn't shoot up until she no longer cried like Klaus had done. 

She didn't lock herself in her room and blast music to drown out her sorrow like Vanya had done. 

She didn't do anything. 

She didn't feel anything. 

It wasn't as if she wasn't aware of what had happened. 

She knew. 

Ben was dead. 

Ben was gone. 

Rowan was never going to see him again.

He was dead. 

Forever. 

Permanently. 

No takebacks. 

And yet, she felt nothing. 

Her emotions were numb. 

Maybe she was a psychopath. 

Maybe she was incapable of empathy. 

Maybe that was why she had so much difficulty telling what emotions people had. 

Maybe she was broken. 

The statue of him was all she could stare at, pondering if she really was a human. 

Maybe all the jumps to different dimensions had ruined her, made her forget what being a person was like.

A pair of arms wrapped around her. 

Her hopes rose before she recognized the energy.

It wasn't the cold smooth energy of Ben. 

This was the staticky warm embrace of Vanya. The hug that used to hurt before she had gotten used to it. 

"Hey," Vanya said quietly. 

Rowan turned around, hugging her back, "Hey." 

"Are you okay?" 

"I want to leave," Ro announced, letting go.

Vanya nodded, "We don't have to stay here tonight." 

"I want to leave, and not come back," she clarified. 

Her sister's eyes widened before she nodded again, "Okay. Let's go." 

"I'll get Klaus, you get the money," she ordered before exiting the courtyard and heading upstairs to drag Klaus with them. 

He was hurting, but so were they all and she would be damned if she left hurt stop her from leaving a bad situation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes this is the fic that I have inspiration to update, no I'm not sure why this one either


	3. chapter 2

_They met up everyday for Five to explain concepts that had been covered in the day's tutoring and training._

_He wasn't a bad teacher, he just wasn't as nice about learning as Mom was when Father wasn't around. Five was even stricter than Mom was when Father was supervising. He was nicer than Father though and he took time to explain everything that she was confused about._

_Which was a lot._

_The schoolwork was way more advanced than anything she had ever done and everyone acted like it was normal to do that kind of work._

_She wasn't sure if it was or not but her brain hurt everytime she did it._

_Not to mention answers came to her head that apparently weren't right. Her brain supplied her with answers but most of the time they were just wrong and the way she did math made Five leave the first time she showed it to him._

_Her brain told her it was common core, Five told her she was an abomination to nature and should be eliminated based off her methodology alone._

_He knew a lot about these kind of things._

_There was one thing that Number Five didn't know though._

_She had brought up her flashcards to him only to be met with confusion._

_"Flashcards? For emotions?" He raised an eyebrow. Surprise, or something along those lines._

_Eight simply nodded in response._

_"Why?" He questioned._

_She shrugged, "So I can learn emotions?"_

_"Are you telling me that your brain does not automatically process expressions as emotions?" He narrowed his eyes._

_She shrugged again, "I guess? Is it supposed to automatically process that?"_

_"You're seven years old and you lack basic processing that human infants recieve to understand danger? Interesting," Five crossed his arms._

_Infants understood facial expressions? How? It was so weird, it straight up didn't make sense to her._

_Eight glanced down at the ground, "Is there something wrong with me?"_

_"No. It's possible that your power influenced your lack of ability to read facial expressions. Perhaps since your brain naturally gives information on people, it never developed the ability to read expressions as your brain has alternate methods of detecting a threat. I will research this but it would be good to know expressions to better analyze people in the moment," he remarked._

_She glanced up at him, "Okay."_

_"You should study expressions. How they actually work on people. Wait here," with that he jumped out of the room._

_She tapped her fingers against her leg as she waited, counting seconds._

_It was 261 seconds before Number Five returned._

_She tilted her head slightly, waiting for him to talk. There would be no need to ask him to explain, he would do that naturally._

_"Come along. I've arranged for you to study with my most tolerable brother and sister. They can have you a portion of the day, the rest of the time, we shall continue our studies and training," he offered her a hand._

_Interestint._

_She took it, letting him lead her out of the room._

_The house was empty, quiet. There was no one around, no Father barking orders, no children scrambling around to follow said orders._

_Mkm was sat down in front of a painting, her eyes closed, and her arm glowing from where it was plugged in to something._

_It should have surprised her but it didn't. Grace was a robot, that fact appeared as soon as she glanced over at her as if it had been in front of her this entire time._

_Five opened a door, leading her into the room before closing the door behind the two of them._

_Six and Seven were in the room, staring at her._

_"Get her to her room safely without being caught. Do not get her in trouble. Eight, you are here for emotion training only, don't waste their time. I will see you all tomorrow," Five jumped out of the room again, leaving the 3 of them alone._

_They stared at each other for a moment. More than a moment. Almost a full minute. 58 seconds before someone spoke._

_Six offered a hand to her, "I'm Ben, this is Vanya."_

_Oh, they were going by their chosen names._

_"I know," she took the hand, holding it for a moment._

_Vanya glanced down, her voice quiet, "You're supposed to shake it."_

_"Okay?" She shook the hand._

_Ben offered her a small smile, "You're supposed to introduce yourself after someone introduces themself."_

_"Oh! I'm Eight!" She mimicked his smile, that was probably what she was supposed to do in this scenario._

_His eyebrows scrunched up, "You don't have a name yet?"_

_Confusion._

_She felt the same way, she had just introduced herself._

_"My name is Number Eight. Father said so. Five calls me Eight though, so I go by that cause it's quicker!" She explained._

_Ben raised an eyebrow, his voice quiet, "Do you want to go by a number? You don't have to."_

_"Dad might not let her, she's new," Vanya offered, her eyes widening._

_He simply shook his head, her protests dying out as he turned to Eight, "You can choose what you want to go by. The numbers are what dad calls you and what we call you in missions and training. We all have other names."_

_Interesting._

_"You can go by your number if you want though. Five does that," Vanya offered, her eyes still planted on the ground._

_Ben wrapped an arm around Vanya who raised her head in response._

_It was weird, one of them would move and the other would do something in response._

_Eight tilted her head slightly, "What does that mean?"_

_"A name?" Ben's face scrunched up again._

_Confusion? Surprised? Pain?_

_Something like that._

_She shook her head, "No. The movement."_

_"Can I tell her?" Ben asked Vanya._

_Vanya nodded, scratching at her arms._

_"Vanya gets anxious sometimes. When she gets anxious she shuts down or picks at her skin. I'm comforting her to help her through it," Ben offered, holding Vanya's hands in a manner in which she couldn't scratch herself._

_Eight blinked, "Oh."_

_That was something she would need to process._

_"We should get started," Ben remarked._

_Vanya smiled a bit, "Yeah. We don't want Five upset at us."_

_"He would never be upset at you. He'll have my head though. Not literally Eight, it's a figure of speech," Ben smiled bigger._

_She nodded, "Okay."_

_And it was._

_//_

It had been only a week and they were already struggling. 

Turns out food was expensive and so was other expenses like laundry, electricity, running water, not to mention rent and also the fact that some money kept on going missing, they all knew Klaus was taking it which wasn't surprising. 

They had not grabbed enough cash as none of the 17 year olds knew what money actually meant in the real world. After all, their whole lives they had been sheltered away from the actual world and how normal people lived. 

Which was how four teenagers, Diego had not let them leave without him, found themselves crammed into a 3 room apartment. There was a living/bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. That was it. 

Not enough space for a functional family, definitely not enough space for four emotional teenagers. 

"If he talks to himself again, I will slit his throat," Diego muttered. 

Klaus shrugged, "Go for it asshole! You can put your knife anywhere you want on my body if you really want to big boy, I don't mind." 

"God no," Rowan sighed, placing a hand up, "Diego, no maiming Klaus. He's not talking to himself, he can see ghosts, remember? And Klaus, if you say another comment that makes me feel that disgusting again, I will send you to a dimension where you're heterosexual." 

Klaus gasped, "You would never!" 

"Behave then," she crossed her arms. 

Vanya leaned over, her warm energy embracing Rowan as she whispered in her ear, "Does a dimension like that exist? For Klaus?" 

"Absolutely no idea, I don't know shit about dimensions," Ro whispered back. 

Diego crossed his arms, "Klaus can't see shit when he's high like he always is." 

"Finally! You understand! That's kinda the whole point," Klaus smirked. 

Diego rolled his eyes, "You can control your power without damaging your body." 

Body is a temple. 

She had heard this before, she was in the back of a car listening to an older version of Klaus and Diego argue. 

She was in the backseat with Ben, who oddly looked the same, holding his hand. 

No. She wasn't there. At least, not this version of her. 

This version was on a couch, next to Vanya, and Ben was dead here. 

She needed to deal with that, not jump to a different dimension where he was alive to solve all her problems. She wouldn't do that to the other Rowan. 

She tapped her finger against her leg for a moment, centering herself.

"Let's not make fun of each other's coping mechanisms, okay children?" Rowan sighed. 

Vanya massaged her shoulders gently, "Relax. Stay here."

"I'm here. Y'all need me," she said quietly. 

Vanya nodded, a smile shyly appearing on her face 

Diego shook his head, "We absolutely don't. You're not our mother Ro." 

"Fuck it. I am now. I'm the mommy now, so listen up Dora, stop starting shit. Klaus, don't piss him off. If any of you feel angry, take a walk. Rule number one, no fighting in the house," she ordered. 

Diego rolled his eyes, "What house?" 

"Don't talk back to your mother," Vanya said quietly. 

Klaus raised an eyebrow, a small smile spreading on his face, "Does this mean Vanya's the daddy?" 

"Rule number two, don't call Vanya daddy," Ro immediately responded, shuddering alongside with the rest of them besides Klaus. 

Klaus shrugged, "Well, that's no fun! Loosen up a bit, mom." 

"I am loose," she rolled her eyes. 

Klaus smirked, "Are you now? I know I am." 

"You walked right into that," Vanya whispered in her ear as Ro groaned in agony. 

She had. 

Rowan just collapsed in Vanya's lap with a sigh. 

Vanya started combing through Ro's hair with her fingers gently. 

"Well this was fun, but I have a job lined up. I will be back. Late probably. I'll let you know if I die or move out," Diego called out, grabbing his bag and slamming the door shut as he left. 

Klaus rolled over on the mattress so he was on his back, staring at the ceiling, "Diego would be the worst ghost. Even worse than the annoying ugly one that follows me all the time." 

"Rowan would be the worst ghost. Could you imagine? All the pop culture references and horrible advice. Also, she would finally be free to do whatever dumb things she could think of," Vanya laughed quietly, still playing with her hair. 

Ro pouted, "Rude. I've been a ghost before, that was one of the ones I've popped into and I was very helpful so fuck you." 

"Ro is so fun though, she'd drive the other annoying ghost crazy, but I would absolutely enjoy her company and if you don't want her, I'll take her!" Klaus remarked. 

Vanya's energy tightened around her, pushing away Klaus' energy even more.

Ro grinned, "At least someone appreciates me." 

"I appreciate you," Vanya muttered, her hands stopping for a moment. 

She laughed slightly, "I know hun, I appreciate you too." 

"I told you they're cute together!" Klaus exclaimed to some ghost.

Ro just rolled her eyes with a smile as Vanya laughed quietly. 

Maybe the living together thing wouldn't be too bad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in the process of moving while writing this so I apologize if it isn't coherent at all


	4. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> make sure to read the last chapter before this one as I updated kind of close together this week

_It had been a couple months of training before something big had happened._

_She had woken up and gone to breakfast but instead of going to training afterwards, her vision had become blurry._

_She had blinked, shaking her head._

_The voices of the Academy faded out, and Five's hand on her elbow disappeared._

_Or rather she disappeared._

_She was still there but everything felt different, like she was floating._

_Not to mention the view around her was different. She was in some sort of alleyway, floating above some sort of weird scruffy middle age man with tattoos, next to him was someone in a hoodie who was just straight up covered in vomit._

_Then there was Five next to a really big gorilla man._

_"Five?" She whispered, staring at him._

_She didn't know what happened but Number Five would know it. He knew everything._

_The person on the floor just muttered, "He can't see you Ro, you know this."_

_Ro?_

_Was this a dream?_

_Only the people in her dreams called her Ro, did she stumble into a dream while awake._

_Also, why couldn't he see her? And who were these people? They seemed familiar but her brain hadn't given them names yet._

_"Don't be rude, it's not her fault that my body forcibly ejected you," the tattooed man groaned, rubbing his stomach._

_What?_

_Huh._

_Interesting._

_She tilted her head slightly._

_Before she could speak, Five spoke, "I don't have time for this!"_

_"Time for what?" She asked._

_No response from Five._

_The vomit man glanced up at her, scrunching up his face, "You okay, Ro?"_

_"Is Ro my name?" She turned to him._

_He narrowed his eyes, "No. It's Rowan. Ro for short. Do you know who I am?"_

_Rowan was her name. She had heard that before._  
  
_Interesting._

_"Ok! And no," she shook her head._

_He stared at her, she stared back._

_Ben Hargreeves._

_Ghost._

_Pain._

_Death._

_"Oh wait! You're Ben! Number six!" She exclaimed._

_He raised an eyebrow, speaking slowly, "...Yes."_

_"You don't look like Ben! He's smaller!" She responded._

_His face changed again, looking weird once more._

_The tattooed man spoke up, "What the hell is going on? I think I missed the oreintation for this shit show. Did you hit your head? Can ghosts hit their head? Wait fuck. Hold on. Dumb cowboy, you ever hit your head?"_

_With that everything started fading again and she felt a pain at her elbow._

_Five's hand was holding her._

_"What is happening here?" Father barked out._

_Number Five removed his hand from her, "Number Eight seems to have disassociated for a span of a minute and fourty seconds sir, she was unresponsive during that time."_

_"Interesting. Number Eight, come with me to my office. You will give a full report of what happened during your disassociative state. Understood?" He asked._

_She nodded and started to follow Father out._

_Eight kept on looking back at Five as she did so, hoping he could still see her._

_He was staring at her which she took to be a good sign._

_She did not want to be invisible again. Especially not with weird vomit Ben and tattooed man._

_That would be really really weird._

_//_

"We're running low on food," Diego called, jumping onto the couch and perching on the top of it as if he was an overgrown bird with an eyebrow slit. 

Which...actually now that she was thinking about it wasn't a bad description of him. 

Klaus called him Batman, Vanya called him depressed, but Ro could definitely see him as a vulture or something. 

Watching, waiting for anything to go wrong. 

Circling. 

Over and over and over and over. 

He was bored and exhausted.

Most of them were. 

Klaus even was bored, when he was home that is. 

He often wasn't home. 

They all knew what he was doing, but he had cut back on the money he stole so it was okay. 

The three of them with the job could support him as well. 

Diego kept on advocating for kicking Klaus out but every time Vanya would remind him that Klaus would die on the streets and he would indignantly shut up. 

Such was the pattern of life. 

Rowan rolled her eyes, "We're running low on everything, even Vanya's pills but you don't see her bitching about it. Oh we need to get a refill for your prescription Van, that just reminded me of it. Can we afford to do that?" 

"All of my pills I got from dad," Vanya muttered, hand holding her other arm. 

Diego crossed his arms, "Well what medication are you taking? What's the brand?" 

"It...doesn't have a brand," Vanya glanced at the floor. 

Ro wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "That's okay. Why don't we get you a checkup and make sure you have the exact right medication for you? That way you have a prescription under your name." 

"Do you really think we should get something different than what dad got for me? He probably knows best?" Vanya muttered at the ground. 

Diego rolled his eyes, "Absolutely. Dad knows nothing, he didn't even take you to a doctor for a diagnoses or talk to Mom about it so we should really go to a doctor. Dad's full of bullshit, you're probably on the wrong meds anyway. I can pay for food if you pay for your own doctor's visit. Just don't go anywhere too expensive. I would like to keep the roof over our head." 

"You don't want to stargaze?" Ro smirked. 

He had been caught stargazing with a neighborhood girl when they were 14, the girl had promptly moved out of the neighborhood, due to their Father paying her to leave. It was highly upsetting at the time but some years had passed so they should be able to make fun of him about it.

Diego flipped her off. 

Classic Diego. 

Vanya tugged at the taller girl's shirt. 

Rowan glanced over at her, "What's up, Van?" 

"Will you go with me?" She asked shyly. 

Ro nodded, "Of course. Now that that's settled, Diego, are we going to get food or not?" 

"We are, race ya down there," Diego rolled off the couch and ran out the door. 

She grabbed her keys and followed him out, calling, "Lock the doors, be safe, and let me know which doctor's you want to go to!" 

It was rushed, but so was she and Vanya would understand both the message and the reasoning behind the speed of the message. 

After all, Diego wasn't allowed to win. 

He became absolutely insufferable. 

It was worse than him losing, marginally sure, but still worse. 

So, therefore, she would have to beat him. 

Friendly sibling competition. 

If he threw another knife at her, she was going to banish him to the hell dimension though. 

That was a Rowan guarantee. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just moved into my college dorm and oh boy is this gon be a change  
> I have no idea when I'll be able to update or what's even happening so enjoy this update as maybe the last for a while  
> no guarantees either way, I really don't know what this is going to be like


	5. chapter 4

_Training got a lot more difficult after the whole "disassociating event" as Father called it._

_It wasn't just her doing schoolwork, physical exercise, tutoring with Five, and practicing emotions with Six and Seven anymore._

_There was now a section of the day scheduled for her to sit in a room as Father showed her pictures of people._

_When she was able to say enough facts about that person, she would be strapped to the table and told to remove herself into a dimension where she wasn't strapped to the table._

_She didn't know how to do that though._

_So then the shocks came._

_It was when he brought out the matches that she had made her first purposeful dimension hop._

_She had found herself locked in a room with adults, one of them being the tattooed man from earlier, and Five staring at her accusing her of killing Father._

_It was weird, she had left there soon enough._

_After giving Father her full report, he had nodded and sent her to her room._

_The matches had been a constant every time since then._

_Apparently, her body needed to be in fear to use her abilities._

_Which was okay._

_Father knew what he was doing._

_He was an adult._

_Adults never made mistakes, they shouldn't be questioned._

_He obviously knew what he was doing because the matches did make her afraid._

_And her abilities worked._

_Well kind of._

_They worked to the point that they got her out of her head and into someone else's head._

_It was weird though, it just left her more and more confused._

_She didn't understand anything, other dimensions didn't make sense._

_They usually had adults in them._

_Or older Ben._

_She usually didn't appear to most people, which made her upset._

_Eight wanted to be visible, she didn't like it when people ignored her._

_Especially when Five ignored her._

_Or when Five wasn't there._

_That made her really upset._

_He was her friend, she didn't like when he wasn't there._

_Father's mouth went to that strict line that meant he was angry whenever she looked like she was upset._

_So she stopped being upset._

_Her face struggled with making expressions so she just didn't try during her training._

_She stopped crying._

_She stopped flinching when the matches drew nearer._

_And Father stopped making the expressions that meant he was angry._

_It was all good._

_Training was okay even if it made her heart pound and her stomach turn around and around._

_Because Father wasn't mad and wouldn't bring her back to where she had to be November all by herself again._

_She got to live with people she knew, her friends whether they knew it or not yet._

_Her friends were always available after training._

_Training was okay because after training came emotions practice._

_It was always nice sitting there and hanging out with her friends._

_"You look tired," Six remarked as she walked into the room._

_People could look tired?_

_That wasn't good._

_Father would be upset at her looking tired._

_She tilted her head slightly, "What's the expression for looking tired?"_

_"Signs of being tired comes from a drooping posture, reactions being slower, fogginess in the eyes, and slower movements. But it's okay if you are tired Eight," Six explained._

_She shook her head, "How do I stop myself from looking tired?"_

_"More sleep, taking things easy when you are able to, relaxing," Six gestured for her to close the door._

_Seven pat the floor next to her, a sign that she had explained earlier meant to sit down here._

_She did as both of them gestured, sitting down between Six and Seven._

_Seven offered her a small smile._

_Happy._

_Eight had done something right._

_Eight turned to Six, "So I just need to sleep more?"_

_"Probably. Your powers might be taking a lot out of you," he shrugged._

_They didn't really seem to take anything out of her._

_They just took her out of everything._

_Hmm._

_She tilted her head, "What do you mean?"_

_"Well your training could be taxing. It depends on what you do for it. My training takes a lot out of me," he responded, his shoulders tensing up as he said so._

_Seven placed a hand on his leg, reaching past Eight to do so._

_His shoulders stopped tensing up._

_Eight couldn't really figure out what that meant._

_She would ask later._

_First, she had to talk about training._

_She shook her head slightly, "My training isn't taxing. I don't do anything but sit there restrained while Father brings out the matches."_

_A moment._

_Her friends turned to her staring._

_Seven's mouth opened slightly._

_Six blinked._

_Her head remained tilted in confusion._

_This was weird._

_Their reactions were really weird and she didn't understand them._

_"What...what does Father do with the matches?" Ben asked, his voice much quieter._

_That was a weird question._

_She glanced at Seven before turning back to Six, "He lights them and puts them close to me until my brain switches me out. Why? What else do you do with matches?"_

_The response to that was unexpected._

_Vanya pulled her into a hug, one that Ben joined by tackling them both._

_They pulled her closer, squishing her between the two of them and floor._

_This was weird but really nice._

_She smiled._

_Happy._

_She was happy._

_"I'm not letting you go back to doing that," Vanya whispered in her ear._

_Ben nodded, "Neither am I. You're staying here forever."_

_"Okay," she responded simply._

_And it was._

_Five popped in a while later._

_She could hear the popping sound his jumps made._

_They hadn't moved from their position._

_There was no need to move._

_She was warm and comfortable and happy._

_This was nice, the nice kind of warmth._

_Not the type of warmth that burned._

_"Why is Eight not in her..." Five trailed off._

_Six glanced up at him, "Eight is exactly where she needs to be."_

_"Yeah!" She called out from her place underneath the two siblings._

_Vanya spoke, her arm loosening a bit from its position around Eight, "Come be where you're supposed to be."_

_"I am supposed to be in bed, as are all of you," Five spoke, taking a step closer to them._

_Ben shook his head, "It doesn't matter where you're supposed to be. Be where you belong."_

_"You belong with us," Vanya pat the section of the ground next to her, her trademark come sit here signal._

_Eight nodded in agreement._

_Five sighed, joining them on the floor and letting him be moved until he was right next to Eight, "This really is a waste of time."_

_"It's our waste of time," Six responded._

_Vanya's response was quieter, "We're making Eight feel better. Her training makes her tired and this is relaxing."_

_"If she's tired, she should sleep," Five responded, but the tone of his voice was softer._

_It meant that he wasn't being a strict tutor, he was being a friend._

_Eight shrugged, "I can sleep here."_

_"Eight can sleep with us and if the rest of you don't want to, she can sleep with me," Ben said quietly._

_Five groaned, "Don't talk about sleeping with Eight."_

_"I want to sleep together though!" She called out._

_It was true, this whole nice pile of warmth was making her feel tired._

_She wondered if she looked tired as well._

_Vanya laughed quietly, "Eight, you can't just say that."_

_"Why not?" She tilted her head._

_Five sighed loudly, "This family. Why do I put up with you all? I could be working on equations right now."_

_"You belong with us Five, you always will. We belong together," Ben remarked._

_And they did._

_It was the four of them against everything, and it would always be that._

_//_

Vanya shivered as the two of them walked together. 

The season had changed, the winter springing onto them before they were entirely ready. 

No one had packed any warmer clothes for when it got hella cold and so here they were. 

Suffering until they had money for warmer clothes. 

They all, except for Klaus, had found some sort of job so they had money but rent and food and doctor's visits took up their entire paycheck. 

Not that three teenagers were making much of a paycheck to begin with. 

She was working at a convenience store, Diego worked at a busboy at a small cafe nearby, and Vanya worked nights as a hotel maid. 

But it paid the bills. 

Just not a lot of money for luxuries, such as clothes.

"You okay?" Rowan asked, an eyebrow raised. 

Vanya glanced up at her, biting her lip and nodding, "I'm fine." 

"Okay and what would you tell me if you were actually being honest with me?" She crossed her arms. 

A pause. 

Vanya glanced away, "I'm nervous...and cold." 

"You're going to be just fine, okay? You just have to have a conversation about what your symptoms are and you'll get a diagnosis and then we can go get hot chocolate. I got a few extra dollars from work so we can treat ourselves. Okay?" Ro placed a hand on the much smaller girl's shoulder. 

She nodded, "Are we stopping by at Diego's work for that hot chocolate?" 

"Definitely. How else am I supposed to harass him?" Ro smirked. 

Vanya sighed, a small smile on her face as she did so, "You shouldn't harass him." 

"And he shouldn't throw knives at me. I'm not behaving until he does," she rolled her eyes. 

Vanya laughed, "I thought you were the responsible one at home." 

"Who told you that?" Rowan grinned, "Whoever did is a liar." 

She shrugged, "You did Ro actually." 

"Never trust me. Or any version of me. We'll lie between our teeth to seem cooler," Ro remarked. 

This wasn't true. 

She would never lie to Vanya.

Well...she would never lie to Vanya about anything important. 

As long as the lie made her feel better, it would happen. 

But she wouldn't lie to her about minor things or in a way that would hurt her. 

Vanya bumped her shoulder against Ro gently, "I can't believe you're such a liar." 

"I'm good at it. It's my superpower," she laughed, currently possessing the title of worst liar in the family besides Vanya or B... 

Besides Vanya. 

It was only Vanya she was better than. 

Vanya rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah, and my superpower is moving things with my mind." 

"Wow! Good for you," she bumped her shoulder against Vanya in a very careful way. 

She had knocked Vanya over before, she didn't want to do that again. 

Vanya shivered again, "Thank you. I worked really hard on it." 

"I can tell," she laughed slightly, taking off her flannel she was currently wearing over a t-shirt. 

Before Vanya could notice or protest, she put the flannel on the shivering girl. 

Vanya sighed in disapproval, "Rowan." 

"I prefer the cold. You know how I get about warmth," she shrugged. 

There were no more protests, even if there was another sigh. 

They had to take care of each other after all, even if it meant temporarily inconveniencing themselves. 

It was just the two of them against the word after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> I could not help myself. 
> 
> This is a sequel to my story Sarang, not a direct sequel as this takes place in a different universe, but I would recommend reading that first. It's not complete, but it is up to the point in which you need to read to understand this fic properly


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